Roberto Leal

Artist: Roberto Leal

LP: Roberto Leal

Song: "Viagem a Lisboa"

[ listen ]

I don't have time to say much about Roberto Leal except wow! (those jeans), holy cow! (that hair), and cool! (those glasses). And I really don't have time to mention that Roberto was named the most popular Portuguese person that people could think of in a recent Rio de Janeiro poll—he came in way ahead of Pedro Álvares Cabral and Luís de Camões—or to point out that Leal kinda' resembles what you'd end up with if you melted the entire cast of the "Land of the Lost" TV show into a single being. Photos from the back of Roberto Leal's 1976 self-titled LP are included below; you can read about him on Wikipedia here and go here to poke around his website.

 [ Roberto Leal, now-ish ]

Maria Pereira

Artist: Maria Pereira

LP: 7" single

Song: "Saber Esperar"

[ listen ]

Went for a walk into downtown Ballard last night during a rare Seattle snowstorm, then warmed myself at home with the melodious warblings of Portuguese singer Maria Pereira. I couldn't find much info about Maria on the web (unless she was a member of the Portuguese American Club and former president of the Women's Auxiliary and she died in November of 2010...but probably not.) Pereria is mentioned briefly in this blog post about a 1958 painter's manual that someone bought while "shopping completely absurd," but the English translation keeps referring to Maria Pereira as a "he." In any case, the liner notes from the back of this 4-track EP are included below.

ps. Happy 101st Birthday to actress Luise Rainer!